I've written many times before that TFC's biggest problem in its Scottish era was its habit of throwing money around. MLS is about finding value, not flexing financial muscle. Actually, giving players too much money will hurt your team far more than it would help.
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan would not make a good MLS owner.
It's long been assumed that the Whitecaps would learn from their Canadian cousins and not make the same mistakes as they launch into their reluctant MLS experience. However, that word reluctant is there for a reason. If you were to get the Whitecaps drunk they would likely tell you what they really think.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Yeahh that Don, Donnie-boy, the Don-ster. He's Ok, I guess. But, he needs to get that stick out of his ass. Yep. HIS ASS. If I want to blow all my cash on some hot little thing then why not? WHY!? But, nooooooo. The Don-ster needs to "approve" everything. He's holding us back, man. Don't get me wrong, I like the comfort of living in his house and the allowance I get on the side -- don't tell anyone about that, eh -- WHOOO! But, I. Could. Be. So. Big. Hey bartender - another gin and 7 please...
So, I wonder. Yesterday on It's Called Football Vancouver Province writer Marc Weber talked about how the 'Caps and Jay DeMerit had an agreement in place a while ago but the league rejected the terms. Welcome to MLS Vancouver. However, I wonder just how big those terms were for the league to reject them.
A quick look at the top paid defenders in MLS:
1. Chad Marshall - $320,000
2. Danny Califf - $250,000
3. Jimmy Conrad - $244,000
4. Jamison Olave - $240,000
5. Heath Pearce - $207,500
MLS would not want DeMerit's salary to throw that list too far out of whack. We'll never know (because a puppy has to be killed for a MLS player's salary to be disclosed by the league) but the 'Caps must have offered him something close to the max. DeMerit gets the max and that means the 2010 defender of the year wants a little more than his $240,000 (for instance). It puts upward pressure on the salary of all players and, in MLS' mind, that's a very bad thing.
Factoring in the rejected contract and looking at those numbers I'd peg DeMerit's salary at about $230,000. We'll find out in March when the players release the first salary list of 2011.
The question I have, however, is whether DeMerit is worth a plus $300k salary? That seems to be what the 'Caps originally offered and even though it seems like they might have got him at a lower number it does plant a seed in my mind that they may be a bit quick to pull out the wallet (and they will get some extra allocation as an expansion team). Maybe the "Canada factor" is true and requires Canadian teams to spend more to get American players (or maybe it's just a Vancouver factor). Either way, it's enough to give one pause.